Cat
by Nyan Nyan Soup
Summary: Part 2 of my Servamp Family AU. Sleepy Ash picked up a stray cat on a whim but is convinced that it's best for the cat if he let's it go. He really doesn't want to though. (Contains all Servamps except Tsubaki. Kuro is a separate living being from Sleepy Ash.)


First part of my Servamp Family AU.

* * *

"If I hear one more cat pun I'm kicking all of you out." Sleepy Ash threatened, holding the small black cat close to him.

"Meow Ash, we don't mean anything by it, it's just a little... ironic is all." All of Love commented, but halfway through he could no longer keep a straight face and began giggling like a madman.

"No, no, no, no! His name isn't Ash, its Nyash!" Lawless' input made both him and All of Love break out into a fit of laughter.

Sleepy Ash slammed a hand on the dining table that caused the two laughing idiots to immediately stop. "That's it. Get out of my house, I was here first therefore I own it. I have the right to kick you two out."

"I was here second!" Old Child shouted in a cheery voice and threw a hand in the air.

"We're not doing that." Doubt Doubt muttered as he reached over and forced the boy's hand down.

"Alright, everyone just settle down." The Mother interrupted. "Sleepy Ash, you do realize caring for a pet is a big responsibility, right? And you aren't exactly the... most responsible person in this house."

Sleepy Ash looked down at the cat he'd been holding. He found the poor guy laying in the road downtown and felt bad about leaving him there. It was just an impulse so Ash didn't exactly know what made him do it, but he picked up the cat and brought him back home anyway. And now… well now his siblings were making fun of him for it, but not for actually picking up the cat, just the fact that out of any animal it could have possibly been, it was the one Ash seemed most obsessed with; a cat. What's worse was that everyone except Ash thought it looked just like him. World End claimed it was the eyes, but Sleepy Ash still couldn't see it.

"What could be so difficult about taking care of a cat? I just gotta feed him right?" Ash questioned.

"And bathe him, play with him, make sure he goes potty outside, unless you get a litter box, take him to the vet if he gets sick, he needs a bed, we should get a cat door, and don't forget the collar! Oh, and the name! You have to name him!" All of Love added.

"...Yeah, uh… I didn't think about all that."

"Then you obviously won't be able to care for it. It would be best for the cat if you take it to a shelter where someone more eligible could adopt it. That was a nice thing you did Ash, really, but you're just not the best candidate to be a pet owner." The Mother said.

"...But…" That was all Sleepy Ash could get out. He knew his sister was right, but he wished she wasn't. He looked at the cat once more and the tiny black ball of fur actually looked back at him. Maybe the cat did look like him, he couldn't really tell.

"Okay, listen Ash. It's a bit too late for going out today, so it can stay for the night, but tomorrow you and I are driving up to the shelter and dropping it off. No if, ands, or buts about it." His sister said. She didn't want to sound harsh, but she needed Ash to understand just how serious she was.

Sleepy Ash glanced up from the cat to see The Mother place a hand on his shoulder. He immediately turned away from her and left the main room in a hurry, going up the stairs to his room. A loud bang echoed throughout the house as Ash slammed his bedroom door shut.

With a quiet meow, almost sounding like a whisper, the tiny cat seemed to call out to the blue-haired man. He stared at the adorable thing with a pained expression and felt as if the cat could sense just how upset he had become. Ash moved to sit on his bed with his knees pulled up to his chest and the black cat held tight in one hand as the other continuously stroked the top of the furry creature's head. The messy room stayed silent as Ash glanced out his window. It was getting dark now and the sky was turning from the reddish-orange color of the sunset to the blackish-purple color of night. He couldn't tell how long he kept himself and the cat holed up in his room during the night, but he must have lost track of the time when a soft knock on his door made him realize the red sky he'd been staring at had finished its shift to black.

"Sleepy Ash, are you up?" A high pitched voice asked in a whisper.

"I don't think he's awake." Another voice stated, much louder than the previous one.

Shhhh! If he's asleep then we shouldn't bother him. You know how he gets when we disturb his sleep." A third rather soft voice was heard, attempting to quiet down the second voice.

"You guys can come in, it's okay." Ash replied to the three behind the door.

"A-are you sure? You usually don't let us in your room." The third person questioned.

"It's only you three, so it's fine. Really." The eldest brother reassured.

Not even waiting for one second, World End came bursting into Sleepy Ash's room with Old Child right behind him and All of Love standing in the doorframe, not wanting to be too invasive of his big brother's privacy.

"Where's the fuzzy thing?!" World End whisper yelled.

"We brought gifts for the tiny one. I have a feather, see?" Old Child held out a large white feather as he jumped up onto the bed with Ash.

All of Love presented a small plate of various meats and a hairbrush. "End made me carry the plate because he was afraid he would eat it on the way here, but I thought the little cutie would feel better if his fur was thoroughly brushed so I brought a hairbrush I've never used."

Sleepy Ash stared at the three younger brothers. He found it sweet that they wanted to help with the cat. The eldest took the plate of food from Love and put it down on his bed, letting the small cat make his way over to it and begin eating. The four watched with an awkwardly high amount of interest as the cat quickly scarfed down the meat and licked the plate clean.

"Have you thought of a name for him yet?" Love inquired while attempting to get the cat's attention using the brush.

"If you haven't then can I name him?! How about Sprinkles? Or Chocolate Chip? Or Donut?" World End suggested.

"...I'm afraid if he's named after food you'll try to eat him…" Old Child commented.

"I can't name him." Sleepy Ash muttered, staring at the cat as All of Love brushed the top of his fuzzy head.

The three looked to their eldest brother with curious expressions.

"Sis is just gonna take me to give him away tomorrow anyway… so I shouldn't get attached. Naming him is the worst thing I could do right now." Ash kept his eyes on the black cat, who in turn stared at the person looking at him. The cat's face seemed emotionless, but Ash just knew that behind that fluffy face was some thought or feeling that had to have been too complex for any normal animal to have.

In a desperate act to make his big brother feel better, Old Child reached the feather out to Ash's face and tickled his nose. The elder flinched and swatted the feather away, but unfortunately it already tickled him enough to cause him to sneeze, startling the cat to the point he jumped off the bed and making the other two brothers laugh.

"Damn it Old Child. What was that for? And what's even the point of the feather in the first place?" Ash rubbed his nose and glared at the small kid, who couldn't stop snickering.

"I pulled it out of one of my pillows. Cats like to play with feathers right? You hold it up high enough and they jump for it. Granted, it's supposed to be on a string but I didn't have anything for that." Old Child explained.

"Oh, oh! You should try it! See if he'll play with it!" Love kneeled on the ground and patted the cat's head.

They all watched as Old Child waved the feather as close as he could get it to the cat then pull it up high in the air. He was hoping the cat would jump for it, but all the tiny furball did was lift a paw when it got close to him then abandon the feather when it was pulled away.

"Pffht! Not only does he look like you, but he acts like you too Ash! Hahaha!" World End laughed and eventually All of Love joined him.

Sleepy Ash groaned as he listened to their laughter. "Hey, come on. Maybe he's just tired. Leave him alone… At least he tried."

A loud smack on the wall made the two laughing brothers abruptly stop and the group collectively looked to the door to see Doubt Doubt standing there with a fist against the wall.

"Go. To. Sleep." He muttered in an aggressive tone.

"Eep! Y-yes! S-sorry!" The three guests yelped in unison as Sleepy Ash simply thought about how rude Doubt was being by entering his room uninvited.

As Doubt walked out of the room, Ash noticed the cat was pawing at the feather on the ground and assumed Old Child must have dropped it when he got scared.

"Hehe… well, I guess that's our cue to wrap this up. It is getting late after all." Love said with a nervous giggle.

"Aww! But I wanna stay with the kitty." World End whined.

"No complaining now. We shouldn't overstay our welcome anyway. We have to get sleep too, you know." Old Child hopped off the bed and patted the distracted cat on the back.

"Come on End, say goodbye to the kitty and let's go." The youngest said as he began pushing the white-haired brother out of the room.

"Goodbye kitty! I'm sorry I won't ever see you again!" It almost sounded like World End was about to cry, but luckily he was pushed out of the room before that could happen.

"Goodnight Ash." Love said before leaving and Sleepy Ash gave a single wave of his hand as an acknowledgement.

"I should probably go too. Nighty-night!" Old Child headed for the door and started to close it behind him.

"...Hey." Ash called out.

"Hmm?" Old Child turned to glance at Sleepy Ash.

"Did I… do a bad thing…?"

"That's not for me to decide."

"..."

"Ugh. If you want my advice, just get it over with as quickly as possible. And like you said, don't get attached." Old Child walked out and pulled the door shut.

His room felt awkwardly silent now that Ash was alone. He didn't like it at all. Looking down at the cat, he could tell the small animal was getting tired. The cat stopped playing with the feather and laid down on the dirty blue rug. The poor thing must have had a long day. Ash scooped up the cat from the floor and placed him on the bed. He slipped his boots off and sat down next to the meowing feline.

"Problem?" He questioned, as if half expecting actual words to come from the small cat instead of just meows.

Sighing, Ash laid back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. He could still see the dents and chips in the paint from all the random objects over the years that he had thrown up there for numerous reasons. His eyelids started to feel heavy and for a moment he closed his eyes only to open them again and have his view of the ceiling obscured by the cat's face very close to his. Ash flinched and quickly lifted the cat up and away from his face.

"You can't do that little guy…" Sleepy Ash mumbled.

A small meow was heard from the cat as the tired man rested the fuzzball next to him. He pulled the blanket over himself as the cat curled up into a ball and nuzzled against his arm. It pained Ash to have to accept giving the cat up in the morning. He hoped the sun would never rise.

Constant meowing in his ear stirred Sleepy Ash from his rest. He couldn't tell what time it was and it took him a second to remember where he was too. Another sound, what he thought could have been knocking, finally made him sit up. Ash rubbed his eyes and looked around. He left his curtains open so he could see it was morning, or sometime during the day at least. Glancing around, Ash spotted the cat sitting next to his pillow.

"Yo man! How many more times do I have to keep yelling?! Sis says you need to get up, like, now! You already missed breakfast anyway!" Ash could tell it was Lawless. That was certainly not the first person he wanted to hear in the morning.

"Ugghh… Gimme a minute." Ash groaned as he tried to lift himself off his bed.

He got up for a moment before falling back down onto the mattress. The cat walked over and hopped into Ash's lap then curled up. They both were obviously still too tired to start the day. Ash didn't realize how long he'd been there until Lawless started knocking again.

"Come on man! Seriously, hurry up! I have to get ready to go too, ya know!" The younger brother complained.

"Fine, fine." Sleepy Ash muttered, picking the cat up from his lap and placing him off to the side.

The blue haired man finally stood up and walked over to put on his boots. As he slipped them on he could see in his mirror that the hood of his jacket was down. After finishing with his shoes, Ash fixed his hair and pulled the hood up. He noticed the cat standing on the edge of the bed, trying to jump down, but either couldn't or simply didn't want to put forth the effort.

"Come here little guy… it's time to go…" Ash held the cat in his arms as he opened his bedroom door to see Lawless standing there.

"Took you long enough, geez. Sis is all ready to go." Lawless said.

Ash shut the door behind himself and walked past Lawless to head down the stairs.

"Hey! Oh what, Nyash too mopey today to acknowledge his favorite little brother?" Lawless teased, causing Ash to stop halfway down the staircase.

"I am not in the mood for your bullshit today." Ash mumbled, then kept walking.

Downstairs in the main room, The Mother was impatiently waiting on the couch with World End. Sleepy Ash was lucky she wasn't working that day or she would have dragged him out of bed hours ago. She still didn't like waiting on him for so long though. Finally she saw Ash trudge into the room with an uncharacteristically quiet Lawless behind him.

"Finally. Ready to go?" She asked as she stood from the couch and grabbed her purse off the coffee table.

"No." Ash bluntly responded.

The Mother let out a sigh and glanced to the tiny cat her eldest brother was craddling. She placed a hand on the feline's head and scratched behind his ears. The fur was surprisingly soft for a stray. The thought crossed her mind of where the cat could have come from. Sure Ash picked him up off the street, but there must have been some place he belonged at least. He was rather small too, so she assumed he must have been young.

"I'm sorry Sleepy Ash… Let's go ahead and get in the car, okay?" The Mother suggested.

His sister placed a hand on Ash's back as she began to walk towards the front door. Lawless followed behind and grabbed a guitar case sitting in the hallway.

"Yo End! You coming or what?!" Lawless shouted.

"Oh crap! Yeah, yeah! Hold up!" World End jolted up from the couch and ran after his elder siblings.

"Why are you two coming?" Ash questioned, walking out the door after The Mother.

"Sis is driving us to the studio on the way there since we got practice. So we getta say goodbye to the kitty unlike everyone else! Lemme see the cutie Ash!" World End reached for the cat but Sleepy Ash pulled the cat away before the younger could lay a hand on him.

End whined as they stepped off the front porch and into the small courtyard where The Mother always parked her car.

"I call shotgun!" Lawless shouted.

"Let Ash have the passenger seat, Law. Besides, you are so not putting that guitar in the front." The Mother ordered.

Lawless groaned and went to open the door to the back seat. When it didn't open he continued to yank on the handle. His sister sighed and opened her door to press the button and unlock all the doors. Lawless unintentionally flung the door open and almost fell back. World End snorted at him and got in the car. Sleepy Ash took the passenger seat in silence, still holding on tight to the cat.

"Can we go now, Sis? We don't wanna be late. Guildenstern'll kill us if we're late." Lawless said.

"Again." End commented.

Lawless turned to the younger. "That was your fault 'cause your bike broke down. Again."

"Relax, we're going." The Mother replied, getting ready to drive off.

Sleepy Ash kept his eyes out the window and after only a few minutes he closed them. The cat snuggled up to Ash and closed his own eyes as well. Ash was suddenly jolted awake when he felt a nudge on his shoulder.

"Ash. Wake up." The Mother said.

"Wha-... Huh? W-what about End and Law?" Ash muttered as he tried to fully wake up.

"I dropped them off already. I didn't want to wake you until we got here." She explained.

Sleepy Ash was confused for a moment until he looked up and saw they were parked at the pet adoption center downtown. His heart immediately started beating faster which hurt his chest quite a bit.

"Ash… It'll be okay. I promise. The quicker you get it over with, the less painful it'll be." The Mother attempted to comfort her eldest brother, but it didn't seem to be working.

Ash really just wanted to bail. He wanted to jump out of the car and run all the way back home to his room where he could curl up in his blanket and go back to sleep. With the cat right there with him. His grip on the black cat tightened, causing the cat to wake up also.

His sister got out of the car and walked over to his door to open in it. "Come on. Let's just get it over with. How about we have All Of Love make your favorite meal when we get back? That sound good?"

When Ash got out and walked past her without a response, she simply sighed and shut the car door. They walked inside and immediately The Mother was disgusted by the smell of animals. Ash didn't seem to mind, or didn't care. The cat, however, perked his ears straight up and sniffed the air. The elder of the siblings looked around the place, which looked more like a pet store at first glance. Collars, toys, and food were for sale. He noticed a few toys he believed the cat might enjoy, along with a red collar that would probably look cute. Distant barking caught his attention and he looked past a door which led to a room full of kennels. Out of the room emerged a young looking girl with long green hair in a ponytail and dark gray eyes. Her black shirt had the word 'volunteer' on it.

"Oh I'm so sorry. I didn't hear you come in. How may I help you?" The volunteer asked.

Ash was about to say something when the girl gasped and walked up to him.

"What. A. Cute. Kitty! He's so small and fluffy!" She placed a hand on the cat's head and rubbed his fur. She made weird squeals and baby talked to the cat.

The Mother and Sleepy Ash glanced at each other with confused expressions on their faces.

"He is just the cutest thing I've ever seen! Aren't you? Aren't youuuu~ Hehe! And such pretty black fur. What's his name?" She asked.

Ash's mind ran a mile a minute. Impulse was telling him one thing while his brain was telling him another and his brain was quickly losing. He looked down at the cat, who also looked up at him. The cat's red eyes seemed to convey to Ash that he understood what was going on, yet a hint of sadness couldn't be ignored.

The Mother stepped forward. "Actually-"

"Kuro!" Ash blurted out.

All three people froze, with both girls looking at Sleepy Ash. There was a long moment of silence until the volunteer grinned from ear to ear.

"Kuro~ That's soooo cute! Black, just like his lovely fur."

The Mother opened her mouth to speak but was once again interrupted.

"Say, you don't happen to have a collar for the adorable little guy, do you?" The girl questioned.

The siblings glanced at each other one more time with The Mother having a look of disbelief.

"No. We just got him yesterday actually. So we don't have anything for him." Ash stated with a stern sound in his voice.

"Oh my! Then there's certainly a lot you'll need. Let me get you all the basics!" The volunteer promptly walked off to gather things from around the shop.

His sister grabbed Ash's arm and turned him around so they could talk in private. "What do you think you're doing?"

Ash glared at her. "I'm the oldest. What I say goes."

She stared at her brother's face. It had been a long while since she had seen such a serious expression on his face. She slowly began to understand how Ash was feeling, so she sighed and reached out to pet the cat. "Hello… Kuro."

Kuro meowed and purred at The Mother's touch.

The green haired girl returned to them with a large container full of pet supplies. "Sorry for the wait! I got a very healthy brand of food, a few of our best toys, a leash, in case he's the walkable type, a small bed, treats of course, and a collar! It's not free though, we need to feed the animals we have here after all."

Sleepy Ash and Kuro looked at The Mother.

"...I'll… get my purse from the car..." She said as she scurried to through the door.

"Oh! Here!" The volunteer reached in the container and pulled out a red collar, the same on that Ash had looked at.

She closed it around Kuro's neck and fastened it so it would fit right. He scratched at his neck at first but quickly grew used to it being around his neck.

"Would you like a name tag for it? Or maybe a bell?" She asked him.

"A bell?" Ash questioned.

"Yeah! Collar accessories are free, so don't worry about it!" She reached behind the counter and grabbed a yellow bell so she could attach it to Kuro's collar.

The Mother returned with her purse and Sleepy Ash held up Kuro for her to see. She paused and gave her brother an odd look. "O...kay. Cute?"

Kuro lifted up a paw and meowed.

"...Really cute." She tried not to, but ended up blushing at such an adorable display. Kuro was definitely starting to grow on her.

The Mother suddenly found herself sitting in her car with not only still the cat, but also a huge amount of cat supplies. She had a tight grip on the wheel despite not currently driving, and a blank look on her face. Next to her, her brother was holding his new cat up close to his face. She was staring off into nothingness rather than keeping on an eye on the traffic light.

"Go."

She quickly turned to her elder brother with a surprised expression. "Huh?"

"It's green, go. They're honking." Ash explained.

"...Oh, right…" She put her foot on the gas.

"Thanks again for-"

"Don't remind me."

The rest of the car ride home was completely silent.

"...Do you think they notice there's a boom mic in the shot when they film?" Old Child asked, sitting on the couch.

"Probably? Wait, where did you see a boom mic?" All Of Love questioned while sitting next to his older brother.

"Last scene. Top left corner. While the guy in the uniform was talking to the kid." Doubt Doubt answered from the dining table. Obviously he wasn't working on his latest project as diligently as he claimed he was.

None of them were paying much attention to the movie that was on, and not because it wasn't that good to begin with. They became much more interested when they heard the front door open and close.

"Should we…?" Love whispered.

"I wouldn't recommend it. He might want to be alone right now." Old Child advised.

They were all shocked, to say the least, when they saw not only The Mother walk in with a large container, but also Sleepy Ash… holding the cat he was supposed to give up…

"You kept him?!"

"You kept him~!"

"...You kept him…"

Old Child, All Of Love, and Doubt Doubt all said.

"I kept him." Sleepy Ash stated.

"Unfortunately." The Mother added.

Old Child and All Of Love both jumped up and ran right for Kuro.

"Oh look at that precious collar! Isn't he just so dashing in it?" Love ran a hand from Kuro's head to his back.

"Bring him down here, I want to officially welcome him to the family!" Old Child jumped up and down with his arms raised like a begging toddler.

"Soooo, did you name him?" Love inquired.

"Yeah, it's Kuro." Ash told.

"Thank goodness you didn't choose one of End's recommendations. We don't want the little guy getting eaten." Old Child half joked.

"Oh, let me take a picture to show End and Law!" All Of Love quickly pulled out his phone and snapped a photo of Ash holding Kuro.

Their sister placed the container on the dining table and took a seat. Seconds later, All Of Love's phone went off and he answered it.

"You kept Chocolate Chip?!" World End shouted over the phone.

"It's Kuro, actually." Love corrected.

"Dude we gotta go home right now!" They heard Lawless yell in the background.

"No, you two need to go over that last part again. It sucked more than usual." Their manager, Guildenstern, ordered.

"Awwww!" They both groaned as the call ended.

Doubt Doubt put down the bottle he was holding. "So, if Ash can keep a cat he picked up off the street… can I keep the snake I found in the backyard this morning?"

The Mother flinched. "What?! NO!"


End file.
